Golden thoughts

Remi Ayorinde smiled at her reflection in the mirror. I look absolutely wonderful, for a sixty-year old. She turned her face from one side to the other. Satisfied with her inspection, she patted it gently. Of course, there are a few wrinkles here and there, but I’ve fared a lot better than most. She allowed the towel wrapped around her chest to drop and still looking at the mirror, she slowly turned around, looking her body over. When she faced the mirror again, her hands went up to cup her breasts gently, then a slow smile lit up her face. They are a tad fuller than I’m used to, but I must admit, they are perky! Her hands dropped and she gently ran her right hand over her belly. The fold she had always hated, on the lower portion, was gone. A tiny part of me misses that proof that those beautiful babies came out of me, all those years ago… A very tiny part, though. She giggled and ran her hands on both sides of her waist, before twisting to look at her back. Bye-bye, lov...

“I love you.” There was no response for about two minutes after the message was read, so Femi Ayorinde frowned and sent another. “Please, say something.” “What do you want me to say? That you have a funny way of showing it? Or that I don’t think you’ve ever understood what love means?” He blew out a breath from his mouth. “Please, don’t be like that.” “Femi, have these years not meant anything to you at all?” “How can you say that? This situation torments me too, you know?” “Torment? Does whatever that word means to you, come close to how I feel, just by looking at your DP?” Femi sighed wearily and dropped his blackberry phone on the ledge of the bathtub. He closed his eyes before rubbing his left thumb and index finger over them. When he dropped his hand and opened his eyes, he picked up the phone and stared at the open chat. The smiling face he had used as his display picture stared back at him, her dimples winking at him. He gently rubbed his right thumb over...

“I loved you a whole lot, back then, you know.” She turned her head quickly to him. He kept his eyes on the road, as he drove. “You never said so.” “Not in words.” “How was I supposed to know?” He glanced at her. “I showed you…” He looked away again. “…and if you had stuck around, you would have heard it.” “The last time we were together…” “Yeah, immediately you left, I regretted not saying it back. I waited till I was sure you were home before calling, but you never picked. Then, I sent messages full of…” “Romantic nonsense.” When he cast a sharp look at her, she smiled ruefully and said quietly, “That’s what she called them.” Without looking at her, he asked, “Who?” She sighed deeply. “I told you I didn’t feel so good the last time I was at yours, remember?” He nodded. “You had come from the hospital to see me.” “I thought I had malaria and because I really wanted to see you, I didn’t wait to collect the test results.” She shrugged and continued, “I planned to sto...

“I’m so sorry, Sade.” Eyes narrowed, she shook her head, confused. “What exactly is going on, Niyi? Niyi blew out a breath with his mouth, ran his hands over his face and turned to Kunle, who was staring at Bunmi with a look of shock on his face. “Kunle.” Slowly, he turned his head to look at Niyi and his eyes narrowed. “Yes, what exactly is going on, sir?” “I am your father, Kunle. Your mother and I…” “You brought your mistress to live in my house?” He turned back to an open-mouthed Sade and shook his head quickly. “It wasn’t that way, at all. Agnes has never been my mistress. I had a brief relationship with her and that ended almost two years before you came into my life.” Still looking at his wife, he waved a hand in Kunle’s direction. “Kunle was born, as a result of that relationship.” Tears fell rapidly from her eyes and wiping them away, she whipped her head away from him. “How could you keep something like that from me, Adeniyi?” She turned back to him, tapping ...

A few hours later, in her grandmother’s living room, she wiped the tears that ran down her face, with the back of her left hand. With her right, she picked up the piece of paper on her laps and continued reading. The way he asked me how you were, anytime I came back home, from a visit to you, told me more than you ever wanted to. You may never have talked about it, but I knew he was the one. A teardrop fell on the paper. Trust me, my darling. It will be alright. Your father… She stopped reading, as memories of a night, five years ago, came rushing in. “How could you have been so stupid, Bunmi?” “Daddy, I…” She put her face in her hands and started crying. “Niyi, calm down, please.” “Calm down, Sade?” He spread his arms upwards and shook his head. “Calm down, she says!” He spun around to face her. “Where were you when your daughter was sleeping around?” Bunmi raised her head and gasped. Niyi looked at her and nodded continuously. “Yes, you must have been. Why else d...

Otunba Adeniyi Williams-Akanbi smiled at his daughter. “You used to fly into my arms after any time away. Five years is a long time, Bunmi.” She opened her mouth and shut it again.   I can’t believe the nerve of the man . “Why did you send your goons to kidnap us?” “Goons?” He started laughing. “Kidnap you?” He waved his left hand in a dismissive manner. “You’ve always had a great imagination, Bunmi.” Suddenly, he stopped laughing and spoke slowly, “A child who refuses to respect her elders will be treated like a child, no matter how old she is. I am your father and when I…” Raising her voice, she cut him off. “Five years ago, you lost all claim to that title when you…” His face tightened, but his tone remained the same. “Oluwabunmi Williams-Akanbi, I am your father and that has never changed. When I ask you to visit, you will respect me and do just that. When you refused to take my calls, you left me no choice but to force you to…” She turned, pulling the twins to t...

“Why mummy?” Jake whined. “I’m a big boy now.” “Jake, mummy said that someone could steal us, if we don’t wait for her,” Joanna said, pulling her twin back. When they started to squabble, Bunmi bit back a smile as she walked pass her children and got through the revolving door first. “Leave me alone!” “No, Jake. We have to hold hands now. Mummy said so.” “But, you’re holding me too tight, Jo!” “That’s enough, both of you,” Bunmi said sharply. “Jake, you know the drill. We all have to hold hands till we get to the car. Jo, loosen up your hold a bit, okay. The parking lot of the store they had just come of out was almost deserted and dimly lit, so she couldn’t see her son’s face clearly. But, she was certain it wore a frown now. Just like his father’s . Her mood soured and just when her thoughts were about going to the man that had fathered her children, she heard the sound of car doors being slammed shut. Turning in that direction, she saw two men get out from the ...

Some days ago, I had a really busy day and by night time, all I wanted was to send the kids off to bed and put my feet up. However, I was running a little late on their bedtime schedule and, since I didn’t want any mealtime drama, I decided on fixing them really fast food for dinner. Nwando wanted the egg sandwich I offered, while the little boss man wanted some cereal instead. Soon the sandwich was ready and immediately she took the first bite, she said, “Mummy, everything you cook is delicious. That makes me think you’re special.” I wasn’t exactly surprised by that declaration, because she says such things a lot of the time. However, because I hadn’t been expecting it, it was an awww moment for me. Grinning from ear to ear, I came to her, hugged and kissed her and was rewarded with a huge smile. Ikem was not to be outdone. He immediately stopped riding around on a tricycle and said, “Mummy, thank you for making Cerelac for me.” Since he started talking a lot clearer, ...

Growing up, I enjoyed playing Mancala aka ncho. Whenever we travelled to the village for Easter or Christmas holidays, my siblings, young uncles and aunties, cousins and I would dig holes in the ground for this. We would use pebbles specially picked for this and we would play one game after another, for hours on end. Years later, my mum bought a game of ncho for us. This was a wooden board, shaped like a tortoise and my siblings and I had lots of fun with it. When I saw this board game in a store about two months ago, I was quick to purchase it in a bid to re-create some of that fun. I told Nwando it was a family game. The sound of that, for some reason, got her excited. For a while, she reminded me that I hadn’t fulfilled my promise of teaching her. So, some weeks ago, I finally opened it. The board was plain but shiny and inside there were beautiful glass pebbles. We took the game into their room and played there. It was fun teaching her how to count her pebbles and try to...